Anand Wilder Releases Debut Album I Don't Know My Words + Spring Tour

Today, Anand Wilder has released his debut solo album I Don’t Know My Words via his new label home, Last Gang. The album is now available to stream and purchase on Vinyl or CD here. An exclusive Rough Trade vinyl variant is also available. Wilder will be on tour across the U.S. this spring, see below for a complete list of dates.

Wilder first announced the new record with the release of the acclaimed single and video “Delirium Passes,” which features Ben Sinclair from HBO’s High Maintenance. Stereogum describes the song as “a rapturous shot of kaleidoscopic psych-folk,” while American Songwriter calls it “a delicate folk-pop narrative on family, divorce, and those fluctuating waves of anxiety…” I Don’t Know My Words has been similarly praised by Consequence of Sound, Under The Radar, Brooklyn Vegan, and more.

Wilder’s reputation as a talented multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter emerged in the Brooklyn indie rock scene of the late 2000s, where he joined his bandmates in painting on the eclectic palette of synths, strings, and harmonies that defined Yeasayer’s acclaimed psychedelic worldbeat and swerving electro-pop experiments. He was at home writing and fronting big hits like Yeasayer’s “O.N.E.,” and “Wait for the Summer,” but the spirit of community always pervaded his surprising collaborations, from the guest-star-studded recordings of the peculiar rock musical album Break Line (2014) that Wilder composed with college friend Maxwell Kardon, to his occasional production credits for fellow travelers like Suckers and Das Racist.

With I Don’t Know My Words, Wilder turns his multi-instrumentality away from electronica and global genre-hopping toward a more grounded, home-brewed sound. Recording on his own, he played every instrument on the album from plucked cellos and bowed acoustic guitars to oscillating textures of dulcimers and tumbling, song-serving drums.

“After some initial attempts at collaborating with outside musicians, I realized that I needed to have my hands on every aspect of recording my first solo effort,” recounts Wilder. “So much of the pleasure of making this album was reigniting my childhood passion for challenging myself to pick up any instrument.”

Themes of family ties were infused into the album from the outset, as Wilder found himself writing and recording in close quarters with his wife and children throughout COVID lockdown in their New York apartment. Much of the inspiration for the project can be traced to Wilder’s familial roots and his own childhood. “My mom, who was born in India, is a huge music lover,” he writes. “Whatever we were doing, the Beatles, Cat Stevens or Fairport Convention were playing in the house through these homemade speakers my father had wired. The lockdown brought all that back to me, and the music I began making translates that musical mood of my childhood for my family now. I wanted to go back to basics, back to songs. Light on electronics and experimentation, heavy on acoustics and vocals.”

Tour Dates:
04/27/22 - Toronto, ON @ Longboat Hall
04/28/22 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Café
04/29/22 - Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
04/30/22 - Brooklyn, NY @ National Sawdust
05/02/22 - Columbus, OH @ Rumba Café
05/03/22 - Chicago, IL @ Space
05/04/22 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry
05/06/22 - Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
05/09/22 - Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret
05/10/22 - Seattle, WA @ Fremont Abbey
05/11/22 - Portland, OR @ Holocene
05/14/22 - San Francisco, CA @ Brick and Mortar
05/15/22 - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
05/16/22 - Los Angeles, CA Zebulon